A very different Harry Potter
by Alex179
Summary: As the title says this is a very different Harry. No slash.
1. Chapter 1

Battered and bruised with a fractured skull and a broken nose Harry was thrown unceremoniously into his cupboard, blood flowed thick and fast from his nose and mouth and his face had already started to swell from the abuse he had received. Paralysed with pain Harry couldn't get himself into a more comfortable position so he just drifted back into the dark crevice of his brain where he felt no pain or suffering.

Hours later Harry awoke in the same position feeling groggy and stiff. Sitting up he tried to remember how he had ended up in such a strange and uncomfortable way. Noticing the large patch of dried blood on his dirty thin blanket the memories of the night before came flooding back to him. His uncle Vernon had returned home at around 8ish in a drunken rage after having been fired from his job in the morning and spending the rest of the day in several bars. Seeing his nephew Harry who he despised he had stumbled forward and took a swing but Harry had jumped back avoiding the blow. Unfortunately for Harry he had knocked a family photo of Vernon, Petunia and their whale of a son Dudley off the wall and onto the floor where the glass shattered into hundreds of pieces. Petunia and Dudley had entered the hallway in time to see Vernon grab Harry by the throat and with all his force throw the boy against the wall. Harry had hit the wall with such force Petunia had shrieked in fright thinking the boy would be dead. Vernon didn't stop there, the then unconscious Harry lay in a heap on the floor but his face was facing the ceiling, Vernon landed a sickening stomp that made the 10 year old boys head crunch in a chilling way. Aunt Petunia had tackled Vernon with all the force she could muster hoping it would be enough to get him to stop, hardly moved by the intervention Vernon had stumbled back slightly before catching his balance using the bottom of the stairs banister. Petunia had fallen to the floor but before he could advance and start the attack again she had shielded her half dead nephew with her body and pleaded with her husband to stop.

Dudley watched wide eyed and afraid as his dad effortlessly pushed his mum out of the way and picked his freak of a cousin up by the neck and threw him into the cupboard under the stairs before using the sliding lock on the door to make sure he couldn't escape. "Upstairs now" his dad had ordered, Dudley and his mum had gone fast and without argument both hoping that Harry would survive the night.

Harry felt his face for injuries but all he could feel was the dried blood flake off. Confused but pain free Harry started to wonder if it was all a bad dream, the dried blood was evidence enough to say otherwise. Light though the cracks in the cupboard door gave him enough vision to be able to search the small space for his glasses. Realising they wasn't there Harry tried the door, it was locked. Unsure of what to do now he started to panic. Locked in and without his glasses to see properly he knew all he could do was wait for what was to come, with his small frame he had no chance of forcing the door open and even if he could what could he do then.

Scared and alone he sat with his back to the corner of the cupboard lost in his thoughts, the questions running though his head like how was he unharmed and what had happened after he had blacked out, what would happen when his uncle awoke and would he get the same again. He had had his fair share of beatings off his uncle but never like what he had received the night before.

Light steps coming down the stairs brought Harry back to reality, getting as far into the corner as he could he waited. A shadow extinguished the light seeping in though the door-frame, the lock on the door slid slowly and almost silently, time seemed to slow for Harry as terror filled him not knowing what was to happen next.

Finally the door opened slightly and the face of Harry's aunt filled the gap.

Petunia sighed in relief seeing he nephew in the corner, taking in his appearance she was shocked to find him looking relatively fine aside from the fear and dried blood that marred his face. Knowing she didn't have much time before her husband awoke she put her hastily thought out plan into motion.

"I'm so sorry Harry" she pleaded looking her scared nephew in the eyes. "Come we need to leave fast, we need to get you out of here".

Harry didn't trust her, she had never liked him and this change of character was odd, the look of sorrow on her face was what swayed him and slowly he took her outstretched hand. With a gentle tug she helped him to his feet and out of the cupboard under the stairs. Looking at the place it all happened sent shivers down his spine, a photo frame with glass surrounding it and a small pool of still wet blood was all that remained, his aunt was looking at it too. "I'm so sorry" she whispered again squeezing his hand a little tighter.

She led him to the front door and as quietly as she could she she removed Vernon's car keys from the key rack on the wall. Opening the front door they exited number 4 Privet Drive.

As his aunt pulled the car out of the driveway and sped off down the street Harry had absolutely no idea what his future held.


	2. Chapter 2

"What you think Vince?" Jay asked his partner in crime as they surveyed the steel door that was the back entrance into the pawn shop.

"I think we have a better chance getting in this way than we do the front" Vince replied looking up and down the dank alley in the rough side of London. "We could drill the lock, shouldn't be a problem, owner lives above but if we get in fast and grab the goods we could be away in no time".

Jay and Vince were brothers, they didn't have the best upbringing and life had taken a turn for the worse after their mum and dad had disowned them after they got into a bit of bother with the law. Living on the streets was hard but they soon found out they had a knack for thefts, nothing big just the occasional jewellery shop, pawn shop or loan shop. 4 years they had been at it and they still hadn't been caught. Planning and knowing the getaway was the key. They would visit the target in advance and scout for what security it had and the routine the owner had. They then learnt all the roads and back alleys surrounding and searched for any places they would be able to hideout if needs be. They may theifs but they had morals too, nobody gets hurt and never go in armed.

Deciding this looked promising they gave the place a last once over, Vince set off walking down the alley checking the frosted glass windows of the other establishments making sure there would be low risk of witnesses. A noise from behind some bins grabbed his attention so he whistled his brother and cautiously made his way over.

He expected to find a cat lurking in the shadows but instead what he found shocked him to the core. Behind the bin Vince found a young boy trembling in fear, taking in the boys appearance Vince's legs went weak. The boy with scruffy black hair looked to be around 8 or 9 and was nothing but skin and bone, dressed in nothing but a heavily bloodstained T shirt that was miles to big for him and some dirty grey pants that were covered in grime. On his feet he had trainers that were falling apart beyond belief and no socks. The boy kept his head down not wanting to look up at the strange man that was towering over him.

"Hey kid, you alright?" Vince asked quietly not wanting to scare the child even more.

"What is it?" his brother asked before he rounded the bins and got a look at the boy himself. "Ohhh" was all he could think to say.

* * *

><p>"Okay Harry, its time to go. You will be safe here." Petunia said, voice trembling as she looked down at her nephew, despite the previous 9 years she had spent hating the boy now she was close to tears as as she watched him looking out of the car window and at the orphanage she was dropping him off at.<p>

Harry climbed out of the car without looking back at his aunt and his last living blood relative. The car sped off and rounded the corner further up the road.

Slowly he made his way up the steps to the ancient looking building, his heart was beating fast with fear as he readied himself to enter into the unknown. Before he made it to the big front double door something wet slapped off the top of his head. Looking up he saw 2 young faces 3 stories above hanging out of a window.

"Go away FREAK" one of the the boys shouted and spat again hoping to hit Harry.

Without a second thought Harry turned around and ran, not knowing where he was going he just ran into the backstreet's destined to become another homeless minor lost in the capitol of England.


	3. Chapter 3

"Look at him Jay, remember how we was when we got thrown out of mum and dads, he's just a kid, probably wont survive out there much longer." Vince pleaded with his brother who was unhappy about taking the boy back to their hideout.

"I know what you are saying but we can hardly take care of ourselves never mind him aswell, we could take him to the police station or the hospital, he will have some family somewhere, they are probably looking for him right now." Jay argued back looking at Harry who was asleep on the couch in the derelict house where they called home. He didn't want to admit it to his brother but he agreed with him, there had to reason somebody so young was out on the streets and if they did turn him away there was a high chance he would starve or freeze to death.

Sighing he made up his mind. "Go to the shop get him some water and something to eat, when he wakes we will quiz him on where he came from." It was the bloodied clothes that swayed Jay, without any visible signs or injury on his face and arms he came to the conclusion the blood must have belonged to somebody else, his parents maybe. On the way back to the house after managing to convince the boy they wouldn't cause him any harm the boy remained in a semi catatonic state where he refused to look up at them or speak a word.

Lost in his thoughts he was brought back to reality when the front door of the house slammed shut as his brother had left in search of some food for the lad. Deciding to let him sleep Jay left Harry and went into the back room to assess their dwindling finances, the pawn shop would need to be hit in the next few days or they would all start to go hungry.

* * *

><p>Vince sat watching the boy sleep, he had been out going on for 12 hours now and he figured he would awake any time soon. As if on que the boy started to stir, Vince watched as his eyes fluttered and slowly started to open, Vince was taken aback by the mesmerizing emerald green eyes that greeted him, it was the first time he had looked at him face to face. "Hey kid" Vince whispered.<p>

Harry bolted not remembering his surroundings and seeing a face watching him in the badly lit room.

"Don't worry your safe here." Vince said softly realising the boy was scared. "Here I brought you some food and something to drink." continued Vince holding out the heat sealed chicken sandwich and a pint of milk.

Harry eyed the sandwich wearily not trusting the kindness of others, reaching out slowly he half expected the food to be ripped away from him before being laughed at and called names. Surprisingly for Harry that never happened, setting the milk down at the side of his he tried opening the sandwich only to find out he didn't have the strength to remove the protective film.

"Let me help you out with that." Vince said soothingly mentally kicking himself for not having expected as much, taking the packet back he removed the film and passed it back to Harry who grabbed half of the sandwich and greedily took as big a bite as he could.

Barely chewing Harry swallowed the big bite, moments later he realised it was a bad idea as he started to heave. Having not eaten in so long his body was rejecting the food intake and was doing its best to get it back up again.

Vince had been ready for this and grabbing the bucket he had put at the foot of the couch he handed it to Harry who seconds later threw up the food and started dry heaving. Vince watched in silence, anger was brewing inside him, he wanted to find out who had caused the child to be this way and he wanted to make them pay. Taking the bottle of milk he removed the lid as Harry started to calm and pulling his head of from inside the bucket. Tears streamed down from his face and sick stuck to his chin.

Harry looked up expecting to find the strange man who had been kind to him and given him the sandwich to be angry with him but instead he saw sympathy and sorrow in his face.

"Here drink this." Vince said handing the bottle of milk over. "Take it slow, just take sips and let it settle in your stomach, it will make you feel better."

Harry did as was instructed, taking small sips at first the milk soothed his hoarse throat, little by little he started drinking faster and faster until the bottle was empty. The thick texture of the liquid and the speed he had drank it made his stomach feel full. With a little encouragement from Vince, or was it Jay? He managed to eat the sandwich as well before he was hit by fatigue.

Vince noticed the yawn, happy the boy had eaten something he decided sleep was probably the best thing for the boy. "Its okay, put your head down ill make sure nothing happens to you." As the boy settled back down and shut his eyes Vince felt the urge to ask "What's you name kid?"

"Harry" was the reply before the the boy drifted off to sleep again. Vince smiled having felt he had reached a milestone, he now knew the boys name and had got his to say something. Standing up quietly he went to find his brother and tell him the good news.


End file.
